


Glitch

by Pukka



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-29
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-25 00:50:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pukka/pseuds/Pukka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A glitch in the animus causes Ezio to end up in the modern day. Desmond takes him shopping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glitch

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick note to say that the point of view changes about a lot. The bit in brackets at the top of each section tells you whose it is 
> 
> Enjoy.

(Rebecca) 

“What the fuck?”  
“Desmond?”  
“Something’s wrong. Something’s…” He flickered. He literally flickered, pixels were his body should be. A second and no more. “Happening. The animus…”  
Another flicker. Longer this time. It defied logic and reason, a man couldn’t just disappear and reappear like the image on a screen- reality wouldn’t allow it. But then again it wasn’t often men spent every waking hour hooked up to a machine that hacked into his very core and rummaged around. The mind was a delicate thing and they crashed around inside it like apes with stone clubs.  
“He’s with me, Ezio is with me.”  
“It’s the bleeding effect you know that. Calm down”  
“No I mean he’s actually here with me right now.” Desmond flickered right out of existence and when he returned there were two. Rebecca dropped her headset. This didn’t happen, it couldn’t happen. Ezio had been dead for hundreds of years and yet he stood there with the audacity to appear as flesh and blood. He even caught her eye and raised a hand in greeting.  
“Ciao bella.”  
She fled the room. There was only so much weird one person could take.

*  
(Desmond)

“Ezio?” Desmond didn’t want it to be real. It was the bleeding effect, the stages that no one ever got to. That was it. Right? And because she spent so much time working on the machine Rebecca had been affected too. Nothing was real.  
The man beside him was smiling after Rebecca’s fading footsteps, apparently oblivious to everything else around him. Probably a good thing. Trying to explain technology was hard enough even when the person was from the right side of the renaissance. Desmond tried touching his arm- he could never usually touch the apparitions. Not only was it solid but it moved, jerked away, when he did.  
“Who are you?” Ezio said, his hand lingering over his sword, “and why do I know your face?”  
“My name is Desmond.” Surely there should be a language barrier? “We’ve never met.”  
“You are the man from the future. I dream of you.”  
“You do?” None of them had considered a reversal of the bleeding effect, that Ezio may see things from the future.  
“You keep me on the right path.”  
“I suppose I do.” Rebecca would find this all mind-blowingly interesting. Desmond had other things to worry about. Like how to get Ezio back where he belonged before his absence was noticed.  
“Am I dreaming now.”  
“I honestly have no idea. Maybe. You’ve left your time.”  
“I am aware. This place is very strange.”  
“Nothing will hurt you.” Desmond said quickly. If Ezio started throwing punches they would never be able to subdue him and priceless equipment could be lost.  
“I have spent too many hours with Leonardo to think that strange things would hurt me.”  
“God, you’re actually like that.”  
“Like what?”  
“Nothing. Why don’t you sit down? I need to talk to about this.”

*  
(Ezio)

Everything flashed or shone or reflected. Made out of a material that wasn’t wood nor polished stone Ezio could see his reflection as clear as if he were looking into a still pond. Leonardo had been right- he did suit his beard like this. The noise was the worst. All around was beeping and whirring. How did they stand it? There were still books and chairs that was something. It was good to know books and chairs were always required. In the middle of the workshop, he had decided the place felt like a workshop, four people gathered. They talked with passion.  
“It can’t physically happen! It can’t.” The dark haired beauty waved her arms.  
“Well in case you haven’t noticed it just has.” A man with a small, apparently pointless, eye mask said. He was amusing.  
“But it can’t!”  
“Guys this is not the time to argue, what are we going to do?” Desmond spoke. A witless name. The man looked more like a sparrow.  
“You’re going to occupy him until we work out what’s wrong and send him back.” Their leader spoke. Ezio liked her but there was something not quite right in her manner. Something hidden.  
“Me?”  
“He’s your ancestor.”  
“So I get stuck with babysitting?”  
“And you know nothing about the animus. We can’t risk sending you back in just in case more come through.”  
“What the fuck am I going to do with a fifteenth century assassin all day?”  
“Take him shopping?”  
“Shut up Shaun.”  
“I was being helpful. But you’re right, he’ll fit in so well in what he’s wearing now. It’s not like Abstergo are hunting down assassins or have access to just about every security camera in the world. I’m so glad you’re here Desmond.”  
“He’s right.” The leader spoke again. “If anyone were to know who he is it could cause disaster. He needs to be hidden.”  
“So you want me to take him shopping?”  
“If anyone can do it it’s you Desmond. Think of it like extra training, it’ll be fun.”

*  
(Desmond)

“You okay in there?” Desmond banged the door to the changing room. He’d already seen Ezio completely naked twice that day and had no desire to make it a third time. Apparently they didn’t have underwear in the 1400s. Either that or Ezio just didn’t wear any. The more he thought about it he thought the latter was most likely. There had been no sound but strange grunts from the cubicle for a long while. Desmond had just accepted the fact that nudity may be involved when the door flew open in his face.  
“What lovely tight pants.” Ezio exclaimed, parading up and down. The attendant almost dropped a pile of clothes she was carrying. “Tell the tailor we’ll take them.”  
“Okay. Okay. Just put a shirt on will you?”  
“I could do anything in these pants.” Ezio glanced at the bars and wires that made up the ceiling.  
“No. Don’t.” Desmond lunged but he was too late. He grinned at the stunned assistant, “My brother, such a joker.”  
Ezio leapt and swung from bar to bar, not stopping or slowing for anything. Desmond followed at a run. God he was fast. It was like trying to catch a monkey in a jungle. A monkey who could kill you in ten thousand different ways and was distracted by beautiful women. And ice cream. They left the shop, the security guard giving Desmond a very suspicious look as he sprinted away. Ezio was gone. All that was left of him was a laugh. As he ran Desmond pushed people out of his way.  
“He must be late.” Said an elderly man as he past. His companion winked to him.  
“And she must be beautiful.”  
Up ahead something fell into the crowd. What were all these people doing shopping on a Thursday? But when he reached the spot there was no Ezio. This was an utter nightmare. What if he was run over by a car? Or arrested?  
“I did not fucking sign up for this.” Desmond pulled his phone out of his pocket. Back up was needed here.  
“You have much to learn little sparrow.” It took Desmond longer than it should have to work out that he was the sparrow. Ezio stood up from a nearby bench. How did he not notice? The shirt was practically fluorescent. Caught somewhere between anger, embarrassment, and amusement he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or shout. Where did he even get something like that? Eventually she sheer ridiculousness of the fuschia shirt overcame him. It had ruffles how could he not laugh? And it wasn’t everyday you got to see a killing machine, a master assassin, in pink.  
“Well you certainly blend in.” Desmond spluttered.  
“It’s all about subtlety. You’ll learn.”  
It set him off again. Desmond was still laughing as the security guards threw them out and told them never to come back.

*  
(Rebecca)

A few tweaks, a little improvisation, and a whole lot of guessing. It hadn’t been easy to fix the animus. It wasn’t as if they could just call up Abstergo and ask them how to mend a wonky timeline. But it was done. Ezio could be sent back to his own time and everything would go back to normal. Well as normal as it got when you spent your days hunting for an artefact made by gods using a machine that resurrected memories hidden in your bones. Hopefully it would work. Hopefully. If not they might just fry Ezio’s mind and completely rewrite history while they were at it. Just another day at the office then.  
There were noises at the entrance to the base. Rebecca patched herself into the intercom. “Desmond?”  
“It’s us.”  
She clicked and the doors slid open. The first thing that hit her was the sound of Shaun’s laughter. The second was just how pink Ezio’s top was. It was an almost impossible shade, a light source of its own almost.  
“Please tell me it’s fixed.” Desmond looked exhausted.  
“It’s fixed.” Rebecca nodded. Shaun still hadn’t stopped laughing.  
“Send him back.”  
Ezio lay down as docile as anything. There was ice cream on the lapel of his ridiculous top. He’d been bribed to behave then. He flickered just like Desmond had. Once. Twice. Then he was gone. Shaun opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by a look.  
“We’re never talking about this again. Ever.”


End file.
